Fast track for Virginia marriage case (FURTHER UPDATED)

Posted Mon, March 10th, 2014 3:20 pm by Lyle Denniston

UPDATED Tuesday 8:50 a.m. The Ninth Circuit has now cancelled the April 9 hearing date for the Nevada case It will be rescheduled.

UPDATED 6:12 p.m. In a case involving Nevada’s ban on same-sex marriage, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Monday set April 9 as the date for oral argument in that case. Lawyers who are involved in the Tenth Circuit’s case in support of Utah’s ban, which is set for argument on April 10, had asked the Ninth Circuit not to set the Nevada case for hearing close to that date. The Nevada case is Sevcik v. Sandoval (docket 12-17668).

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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit agreed on Monday to follow an expedited schedule in reviewing the constitutionality of Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriage, which has been struck down by a federal judge in Norfolk. Under the schedule, briefing will be completed by April 30, and oral argument will be held in the public session set for May 12 to 15.

The order granting expedition is here, the briefing order is here, and the argument order is here. The lead case is Bostic v. Schaefer, Circuit docket 14-1167.

The schedule puts the Fourth Circuit a bit behind the Tenth Circuit’s planned review, at its April arguments, of cases involving same-sex marriage bans in Oklahoma and Utah. The Fourth Circuit, though, has a reputation of deciding cases rather quickly.

Aug. 2015

In a conversation with Bill Kristol of The Weekly Standard, Justice Samuel Alito reflects upon (among other things) his arrival on the Court, recent First Amendment cases, the themes in his dissent in Obergefell v. Hodges, and his love for baseball.